


Friends, Once

by CuriousThimble



Series: Cold Hands, Warm Heart [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: AmellxCullen, Break Up, Canon Divergent, Circle Tower, Circle of Magi, Dragon Age Quest: Broken Circle, F/M, Gen, Lore friendly, Warden Amell (Dragon Age), non-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 21:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16048499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriousThimble/pseuds/CuriousThimble
Summary: After saving the Circle of Magi from Uldred and his abominations, Evette Amell takes a private moment to catch her breath and reflect on her past with Cullen Rutherford and how to leave her old life behind.





	Friends, Once

Evette had always thought the lake looked as cold as the ice water that was said to run in her veins, and after dealing with demons and blood mages, she wonders if the waters of Lake Calenhad can cleanse the tower of blood magic and horror. She and her new companions had dared to save the mages- against the obvious wishes of the Knight-Commander, and now the Circle of Magi’s tower is safe, and what mages are left will join the fight against the Blight. She has done her duty by them, and now that it’s all over, she isn’t sure how to feel. The tower had been home to her for fifteen years and to see it in this condition...to know that some of her  _ friends _ had done such horrible things...it makes her feel empty. And Cullen…

 

He had looked at her as if he loathed every breath she took. They were near the same age, had been trading glances and smiles for months before the shy templar had finally asked her to meet him in the chantry late one night for their first kiss, and many after.

 

She had loved him with all the fervor a nineteen year old girl could manage before she’d been conscripted. Had stupidly held on to her infatuation in hopes that one day...

 

But now he is lost to her completely. 

 

The maleficarum that had turned on the Circle were either dead or in custody of the templars. First Enchanter Irving would mend. Senior Enchanter Wynne had decided to throw her lot in with the Grey Wardens. The Circle would leave in the morning to go to Redcliffe to save the possessed child. Alistair and their companions were resting after a day’s work, drunk on the exceptional cellar the Circle kept. Everyone was in a moderately cheerful mood.

 

Except Evette.

 

She stands on the pier, looking out over the water with it’s cold moon reflected on the still surface, wishing things had been different. She had known when she had given her first kiss to a templar that the game they were playing was dangerous. Templars were there to watch the mages, to protect the world from their power and make sure they followed chantry law. What’s more, at best they were a zealous order of mage-hunters, trained to talents that could render a mage useless before killing them; at worst they were rapists and torturers.

 

Except Cullen, he had always been different, a true believe that the order was right, and he had a duty to protect the mages from themselves. She and Alistair had found him in the Tower, near the top, caged by Uldred and having withstood hours of torture. At first he had babbled about how the blood-mages had delved deep into his mind, finally drawing out the one thing he wanted, and knew he could never have. For a moment her heart had swelled as he confessed love and desire for her- could it be true? Could he truly share her feelings, she had thought. Then she convinced him- happily, fool that she was- that they were real. Instantly his panic had changed to anger.

 

She closes her eyes against the memory of his look of hatred, but it was burned into her mind. He believed her to be no better than Uldred. It didn’t matter that she had saved them, saved  _ him _ . It only mattered that she had been born an unlucky mage.

 

_ I just wanted to spare anyone who was innocent, _ she thinks, wrapping her arms around herself.  _ I couldn’t let them all die because of a few… I would have thought Cullen would understand that. He used to say the chantry was too hard on us, they watched us too closely. He used to have an idea that was something like fairness. But now...that’s over. I’m not even responsible, and he hates me, just for being what I am. _

 

“Evette?”

 

She wipes her face quickly, trying to dry her tears before he sees. “Yes, Alistair?”

 

“I just wanted to see if you were all right,” he says, coming to stand beside her. “You and that templar, you were...friends once, weren’t you?”

 

She nods, biting the inside of her cheek and forcing her face into a blank expression. “Once.”

 

“I’m sorry he said those things. He’s been tortured, you know...Trauma does terrible things to people.”

 

“I know,” she says softly. “When I left the Circle with Duncan, he was the only one who said goodbye. The only one who even cared that I was leaving.”

 

“Maybe one day he’ll realize he was wrong about you.”

 

Evette shakes her head and takes a deep breath. In the morning, her heart will be aching and raw over Cullen’s brutal dismissal, but right now, she just wants to get very, very drunk. “It won’t matter if he does,” she says in a cold voice. “I’m never coming back here. If I don’t die in the Blight, I’m going to be free.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you've read my Anora-centered piece, Cold Feet, then you've already met Evette! This is one of the (few) short stories I've written about her. Cullen is only talked about here, but trust me, their relationship will play a large part in her life much later.


End file.
